Reliving the 2020-21 sports year: Four freshmen who made an instant impact at UA this year

A guarantee every year in college sports is a batch of freshmen are brought in with hopes they’ll be able to contribute to their respective teams immediately.

Some take a few years to develop into standout, while others hit the ground running and establish their legacy the moment they step foot in Tucson.

Across all sports at the UA this season, freshmen were essential to team success.

This week, the Star is reflecting on — and awarding — the best of the best in UA sports from the 2020-21 season. The Arizona women’s basketball team’s run to the national championship after upsetting UConn earned top sports moment, UA head football coach Jedd Fisch was crowned best hire and women’s basketball standout Sam Thomas won best supporting role.

Up next: best freshman

Honorable mention

Gustaf Strom, men’s tennis

The Arizona men’s tennis team had its best season in program history, which resulted in an unprecedented spot in the Sweet 16, where the Wildcats fell to SEC champion Tennessee 4-3.

Although the Wildcats were led by team captain Alejandro Reguant, they had a helping hand from star freshman Gustaf Strom, the Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year. The Sweden native finished the season with a program-best 18 singles wins, and climbed up to No. 15 in the ITA rankings, the highest of any Wildcat ever. ITA also named Strom the Southwest Rookie of the Year. Strom was also an All-Pac-12 selection and received an invitation to the NCAA Singles Championships.

Strom’s efforts helped Arizona upset No. 15 USC and No. 22 UCLA in the same season for the first time in program history. The Wildcats were a combined 2-54 all-time against their Los Angeles Pac-12 foes before this season.

“It was incredible, man,” said UA head coach Clancy Shields, who was named the 2021 Pac-12 Coach of the Year. “It is the most incredible team I’ve ever been a part of. … I’m just so proud of our team. They’re an incredible group of kids and they really represented the U of A and Tucson in the very best way. I’m so proud of this team and excited to be a part of this journey. … We’re just trying to think about ways for next year. Now that we’ve had a taste of it, how do we get back and how do we do it more?”

Runner-up

Sofia Maldonado Diaz, volleyball

How talented is Sofia Maldonado Diaz?

Arizona volleyball head coach Dave Rubio, now the longest-tenured coach at the UA after Mike Candrea’s retirement, returned to Tucson following a trip to Italy and caught a red-eye flight to Guadalajara, Mexico, to recruit Maldonado Diaz five hours upon return.

“That’s how badly I was willing to go. I was willing to go to Guadalajara,” Rubio said. “I mean, if I had to walk there I would have gone to recruit her.”

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Rubio’s relentless recruiting efforts landed Maldonado Diaz, who became one of the top freshmen in UA history. Maldonado, an outside hitter, led the Pac-12 in kills per set (3.63) and aces per set (0.37) and ranked fourth in the conference with 272 kills. Maldonado Diaz also posted double-digit kills in 16 of Arizona’s 21 matches, and led the Wildcats in the same category in 15 of the final 19 contests.

Maldonado Diaz’s breakout match with the Wildcats happened against Washington at McKale Center, where she had 25 kills — the most by an Arizona freshman since 2007 — on .439 hitting.

Her productive first year with the Wildcats earned her Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, the first UA player to win the award since Kim Glass in 2002. Maldonado Diaz was also named an All-Pac-12 selection.

“Sofia is going to be pretty special in time,” Rubio said. “It’s an amazing story. The fact that she’s as good as she is has been completely unexpected on my part.”

Winners

Jacob Berry and Daniel Susac, baseball

Arguably the best freshman duo in UA baseball history, the “Baby Bombers’” time in Tucson may be short-lived after third baseman Jacob Berry entered the NCAA transfer portal following head coach Jay Johnson’s departure to LSU, per D1 Baseball.com’s Kendall Rogers.

As many as 12 players, including Branden Boissiere and Tyler Casagrande, have entered the transfer portal since the season ended, which doesn’t mean they won’t return to the UA, but a chance to ensure college eligibility with the NCAA prompting a one-time transfer rule that allows student-athletes to leave a school without having to sit out a year.

The bad news for the UA: Whoever replaces Johnson will be forced to recruit those players out of the transfer portal on top of assembling a roster for the 2022 season.

But that’s not a reason to pay respect to the productive seasons of Berry and catcher Daniel Susac, who replaced New York Yankees draft pick Austin Wells behind the plate.

Together, Berry and Susac combined for 29 home runs — the first freshman duo in Arizona history to both have double-digit home runs — and 135 RBIs, while adding 43 doubles, six triples, and 102 runs scored.

Susac, indicated via Twitter on Tuesday that he plans to remain at UA.

“Both of them, mentally, are way further along than most young players at this time,” said Johnson. “When that matches the physical skills that they have, now you’re seeing the impact.”

After Arizona fell to Vanderbilt and Stanford in the College World Series in Omaha, Berry and Susac were named Second Team All-Americans by Baseball America. Other publications to give All-American nods to Berry and Susac: Collegiate Baseball, D1 Baseball, Perfect Game and NCBWA; Collegiate Baseball named Berry and Susac Co-Freshman of the Year. Susac, a Buster Posey Award semifinalist, was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

Even if Berry follows Johnson to LSU or goes somewhere else, the year of “Baby Bombers” will be a season to remember in the UA baseball history books.